//------------------------------// // Nightmare saga: The great reveal // Story: A new Discord // by Galaxy Knight //------------------------------// Chapter 15 I’ve said this once before and I’ll say it again, something here feels very wrong. I expected the Everfree forest to be a bit unnerving because of all the creatures that were inside of it, but so far it’s been more dangerous than I could have imagined. We all could’ve died about twice already and I never would have brought the girls here if I knew it would be this dangerous. But above all else…I don’t think it should be like this, there isn’t supposed to be mortal terror in a kids show like this one, even in a deadly forest. Something is affecting all these monsters, something dark…but familiar. On our long journey we came across a river, it ran a long way along the Everfree but it wasn’t that wide so we might be able to cross it. We walked towards the river to examine it. “I’m perty sure I can jump this river.” Applejack said. “It wouldn’t hurt to know how deep it is. You know, in case one of us jumps into it and plummets to our doom.” I picked up a nearby large rock and dropped it into the water. The water was clear enough that I could watch the rock sink all the way to the bottom; but then it started to…rise? Um, my science knowledge may not be the best in the world but I’m pretty sure that if it sinks then it shouldn’t just float to the top. Even the water began to ripple and then the rock rose above the water…atop the head of a sea serpent. This sea serpent had purpleish scales, ginger hair, a moustache, and his eyes were a deep and solid red. “I…ugh, sure why not?” I said. I had enough adventure for one night, but if I have to take down this jerk as well then so be it. I walked up to him and looked him in the eyes. “You aren’t going to let us pass are you?” He roared in my face. “I thought not.” He lunged at me with open jaws, trying to snatch me up in his mouth. I grabbed his open maws and tried to hold him back, it was fairly large so this was difficult. I couldn’t push him back completely so when I had enough breathing room I did a back flip and got out of his way. I needed to incapacitate him quickly so I decided to go right for the face, I ran towards him and before he could try to lunge at me again I used my soul robber to grab on to his neck, then I jumped up into the air and using my forward momentum I spun around and landed on his back. I crawled up his scaly body and made it to his head, I started punching him in the eye but that did more than piss him off and once he knew I was up there he flung me right off and knocked me on the ground. I got up off the ground and looked the serpent in the eyes; he was still just as angry as when we started. “Look buddy, if you don’t let us pass I’m gonna have to go all out on you. And we both don’t that so why don’t you just-“ Before I could finish the serpent opened his mouth and breathed water at such high pressure that it knocked me back, off my feet, and into a tree. I hit that tree so hard that it broke and we both fell down, my concentration was broken and I reverted back to my human form. “Didn’t…see that coming…ugh” My head slumped and my eyes shut. The rest of the gang looked at me with wide eyes. “Did he just knock the transformation out of him?” Twilight asked aloud. Applejack nodded with a fearful look on her face. “Eyup.” They all looked up at the menacing serpent “Anypony else have a plan?” Twilight asked “Nnope!” Applejack said again. The serpent drew in closer to the group, his maw opening slowly, preparing to gobble up each of these ponies one by one. Suddenly, the sound of rushing water could be heard, first faintly and then it became louder. Everypony and the serpent looked to the side and saw a giant wave of water surging down the river, approaching them quickly. “BEGONE CREATURE!” They heard somepony yell. After that battle cry, the wave crashed into the serpent sending it rushing down the river and away from the group. Everypony was curious what just happened, but their questions were answers when they looked up into the sky and saw a silhouette of an alicorn gliding through the air, this figure landed on the ground with them and they all recognized her as Princess Luna. “Princess Luna! What are you doing here?” Twilight asked. Luna kept her stoic expression. “I would have joined you previously; however it appears that our deceitful friend wished that I not join you.” I held up my arm. “I resent that statement.” I got up slowly and clutched my back. “I prefer the term trickster; it’s more fun and sounds less evil.” Once I was on my feet I walked over to Luna and looed her dead in the eyes, I had a goofy smile and she had a stoic glare. I was hoping that I could defuse the situation with my charm… I was mistaken, the second I got within range Luna raised a hoof and slapped me across the face; I rubbed the area that she hit. “I will admit that I deserve that, probably.” “You do indeed.” Luna said. “I understand what you were trying to do by leaving me in town, but your concept is flawed.” Oh, now she wants to challenge my thoughts. “All right then, tell me, if you do indeed know what I was doing why was it flawed?” “You left me in town because you did not wish for me to be hurt; however I am able to take care of myself.” I smiled smugly. “Is that a fact? Luna, we’ve almost been killed three times tonight, if something bad is going to happen I don’t want you to suffer as well.” “You make these assumptions assuming that either I will be hurt or you will not be able to protect me, do you truly not believe in your own skills?” “Of course I do, but-“ “Then you should have no problem watching over us?” “Well yes, but-“ Now Luna stared at me with a smug and all knowing smile, she knew she had talked me into a corner. In truth, I suppose there was no reason for her not to follow us but I still didn’t feel especially good about doing it. I sighed in defeat. “Fine.” I snapped my fingers and a small bridge formed over the river, connecting the two points of land. “But don’t expect me to watch your flank.” “I should hope not, it is rude to stare at a mare’s flank without permission.” I blushed at her comment. “That’s not what I meant! I just- I meant- ugh! Just shut up and start walking.” I decided to pick up the pace and walk in front of the group, both to watch out for anything else that decided to jump us and because I didn’t really want to talk with anypony right now. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop Pinkie from bouncing right next to me. “Wow. She made you stop talking.” Pinkie said. I sighed. “Yes Pinkie, I noticed that.” “I mean, no one has ever made you stop talking and she just comes up and says a few words and then-“ I extended my left leg to the side and purposely tripped Pinkie, causing her to fall on the ground. Was it mean? Maybe, but I really don’t like people (or ponies in this case) talking about my flaws. Our journey was reaching its end; the energy that once felt so weak was now much stronger and I could feel it in my bones, so much so that I knew exactly where it was coming from. Once we found our way out of the forest we came to a drawbridge over a cliff, and in the distance I could see our destination: The castle of the sisters. “The old castle? Why are we going back there?” Rainbow Dash asked. “That’s where the energy feels the strongest; I believe if we go there we’ll be able to find something and solve this problem.” “But how exactly do you know, you talk so much about this energy and yet you don’t go into detail. I don’t know about the others but I can’t feel anything.” Rarity pointed out. “I’m not quite sure; I still don’t understand my power completely.” I tried to explain them as best I could. “It’s like…when you see something out of the corner of your eye, you can’t exactly see it but you feel that it’s there and as your senses get better you can see it better.” Luna nodded. “He’s right, both draconequus’s and alicorns are creatures of intense magical power, as such the magic we radiate can detect other magical fields. It’s like a sixth sense for energy.” “Thank you for explaining that Luna, now let’s go.” We started to cross the bridge; it was rickety but stable so I thought it would hold us. But of course, something has to go wrong on this trip and as we were walking we started hearing thunder rolling in, but when I looked up in the sky I saw that there weren’t any clouds in the sky. “Riddle me this: how can there be thunder without any clouds?” I asked. Luna looked up as well and pointed towards the horizon “Answer: three small thunder clouds heading our way of their own volition.” I looked in that same direction and saw four thunder clouds flying towards us, once they came in closer I could see that they all had pegasi on top of them and each pegasi had dark shaded fur and lifeless blue eyes. “They’re coming this way, what do we do?” Twilight asked. “Personally, I suggest we cross this bridge before they get here.” I added. We all started running away from them, but before we could all cross to the other side a bolt of lightning came down and stopped us in our tracks. “They can shoot lightning bolts, wonderful.” I said aloud. I had a plan to distract them; first I waved my arms in the air to get their attention. Secondly, I waited for them to get close, almost dangerously close; once they got close they started charging up their clouds with electricity I pulled out my secret weapon from one of my pockets: the mirror shield. Once I had it fastened around my arm I was ready to defend us, the lightning bolts came at me and I put up my shield, deflecting the bolt back at the cloud and having it dissipate into the air. Luna looked back at me and saw the shield. “What’s that?” She asked. “Mirror shield, it deflects any energy based attacks back at the user.” “Very nice.” “Thank you. Now get back.” As everypony retreated across the bridge I was able to block and deflect the onslaught of lightning bolts that tried to fry us. We all made it across the bridge successfully, but those pegasi kept assaulting us with their lightning bolts and their attacks became more frequent. I tried to keep my arm held up but the heat from the electricity hitting shield and the constant force of the bolts hitting it were lowering my resolve. I felt the shield get red hot and then one lightning bolt caused it to shatter and sent me flying backwards. I should have seen that coming, a magical shield could only take so much damage at once, especially focused elemental damage like that. At this point everypony was scattered, trying to dodge the attacks and not be struck by lightning. I saw one pony in particular sneaking up behind Luna. “Oh shit.” I said to myself. I got up and ran as fast as I could towards her, I was totally focused and ran faster than…um…damn it, I don’t know any people who are famous runners, I can’t finish the simile. Whatever, I ran really fast towards her. “Luna, look out!” She looked behind her and saw the pony on the cloud; I knew she wouldn’t be able to dodge in time so I needed to intervene. As the pony struck the cloud and lightening came striking towards Luna I knew I had to make a split second decision; I made a quick leap and I jumped in front of Luna taking the bolt for her… kinda wish I didn’t do that. Once I was struck I hit the ground, I could feel all that energy coursing through every nerve in my body and it felt like my body was burning. I felt it in my arms, my brain, and my fingertips; it begged me to stay down, to give up and just die. But I looked at the scene before me, with everypony in a panic, and I knew I couldn’t quit. I got on my hands and knees and rose up off the ground; the electricity was still bouncing in my body. I looked up and saw the pony on the cloud; he was staring at me, just begging me to make a move. Luna looked at me with concern. “Will! Are you okay? I thought you were…” She trailed off her words. I stared daggers at the cloud pony. “No, I’m not going down. Not here… “ You could see small arks of electricity forming on my body. “Not now…” The arks grew bigger and more wild. “Not…EVER! HAAAA!” As I screamed to the high heavens, the electricity on my body grew and began to shoot out of my body with deadly force. The pony looked scared, but his expression didn’t last long as one of the stray bolts hit him dead center and caused him to dissipate into nothing. When I stopped shouting I looked down and… I felt nothing, the pain electrical surge in my body was gone and all that remained were some small arks jumping between my fingers. I looked at my hands, astounded by what just happened. Luna walked up to me, equally shocked. “Will…did you just shoot lightning?” She asked. I clenched my fists and looked at the other pony on the cloud that was terrorizing the others; I smiled as a thought came to my mind. “Only one way to find out.” I ran towards the pony, and I began to focus my energy. I tried to channel that same electric spark again; I looked deep inside myself and heard the words of one of my many masters: “This power is accentuated by your erratic nature, trust your instincts. Surrender to its erratic nature, allow its energy to charge through your body and anticipate its movement. Then, unleash it!” I cupped my hands together, and a small spark formed between them. That spark grew bigger and bigger, eventually growing to the size of a small melon. I felt it’s power deep inside, coursing through me, and I knew how to unleash it. “Hey cloud guy!” He looked towards me and could see that I was ready to attack, he tried to fly away from us but I jumped into the air and unleashed my fury. “Electro shocker!” The bolt flew out of my hands and caught up with the cloud almost instantly, causing him to turn back into a puff of smoke. I landed back on the ground and patted myself on the back, relishing in this new power. “Whoa, that was awesome!” Rainbow cried. “I know, and check this one out.” I opened up my hand and the energy ball grew again, this time once it was about the size of a basketball I threw it up into the air and then starting bouncing on my head and doing tricks like you would with a soccer ball. Luna walked up to me doing my little display and she was confused. “This is…impossible. Discord never had elemental control like this.” Luna pointed out. “Well, I’m not him am I? I can outthink him any day of the week.” The ball of energy fell back into my hand and I crushed it, causing it to dissipate. “Now, we’re on the last leg of our journey, let’s get a move on.” We continued our walk through the forest, while we were walking Luna pulled back to talk to Twilight without me hearing them. “Does he frighten you?” Luna ask. Twilight looked at her, confused. “What? No, why?” “I have seen glimpses of his power and he is greater and yet more terrifying than Discord at once.” “How do you figure?” Twilight asked. “He has shown tremendous strength, creating many wonderful and powerful creations. But…I’ve also seen the multiple sides of his mood; for all the good that he has there is malice and hatred below the surface. I fear what would happen to Equestria if he went out of control.” Twilight shook her head. “I don’t think that will happen princess, Will has friends who care about him, I’m sure he’ll be able to keep his negative emotions in check.” She nodded. “I trust your judgment Twilight Sparkle.” “You are right about one thing though; Will is a very remarkable being.” Luna smiled. “Indeed he is.” Our journey finally came to an end as the old castle was in view, it was still a few yards away but we knew our journey was at an end. Unfortunately, our struggles weren’t over yet because as I looked out towards the castle I could see several shadow ponies guarding the entrance. I pushed back the group, signaling them to back up. “I can feel it; the collective energy is inside that building. Most likely they’re shadow ponies, like the ones that I’ve been fighting.” “There are guards in front of the castle.” Luna looked at me. “I assume you have a plan.” “Um…yes! Yes I do have a plan, it’s a wonderful plan really, great plan. Just let me think of it.” I put on my thinking face. “Okay, if there are guards on the outside, there are probably guys on the inside as well. We need a way to take these guys down quickly, let’s see: Most of them seem to have this shadowy essence in them and-oh!” “I have an idea.” I said aloud. I snapped my fingers and summoned a spell book “Here we go: Ferun’s century of spells, this should have it.” I started flipping through the book looking for the spell I wanted, meanwhile Twilight tried to look at the book but I had to tilt it away from her. “Come on, just let me see! I’ve never seen other worldly magic.” Twilight protested. I frowned. “Sorry Twilight, but these spells are dangerous. At its weakest these spells can cause pain to others and at its highest power…it can topple gods.” Finally I made it to the page I wanted “Ah, here we go: The sun beam spell. Concentrated light magic that deals damage to foes, can dispel negative energy, and deals extra damage to undead foes.” Now I handed the book to Twilight. “Twilight, can you use this spell?” She gave it a quick glance over and nodded her head. “I think so, if I combine my beam spell and my light spell together that should get about the same effect.” “Alright then, Rarity I’d like you to try and learn this spell to, Pinkie and Applejack you’ll take these.” I tossed them both three glass bottles with glowing white liquid in them. “Oh shiny, what is it?” Pinkie asked. “Liquid light, it’ll drive them off or dissipate them depending on their strength.” Rainbow looked at me a bit annoyed. “Hey, what about me? What do I do?” “Easy, punch them.” I said bluntly. “What? Why does every pony else get a new thing and I don’t?” She complained “Does punching not work for you?” “Well…I mean, I’m good at punching.” “Well there you go, I picked something that you’re good at.” “I guess…what will you be fighting with?” I thought about a weapon I could use, something that would help and be cool at the same time. Concentrating I stuck my arm out and opened my hand, in it a weapon began to form out of nothingness, and then it grew brighter and brighter until it was fully formed. It was a thin golden yellow blade with a glowing white gem placed right above the handle. “Awesome!” I exclaimed, knowing what this was. “What is that?” Rarity asked. “This is the Dawnbreaker, a magical sword that will do extra damage to shadow creatures like these. Now, is everypony ready?” I got a collective nod from the group, this made me smile. “Well then…CHARGE!” We all ran full force towards the castle, the first two guards in front looked confused at first and raised their spears in defense but before they could even try to do something Twilight charged up the sunbeam spell and blasted one of them to dust. I rushed up to the other one and when he tried to thrust me with his spear I spun around him and my sword came down on his neck and he dissipated into dust. The door was closed so I kicked it open, alerting the other guards in the hallway. As we charged the girls took down some of the other guards who tried to jump us while I stayed at the head of the group, slashing ponies who tried to fight back and clearing the way for everypony else. Finally we made it to the throne room and I saw one pony sitting on the throne, his fur was a bit lighter than the rest of them “Your reign of terror is over villain!” I cried, pointing my sword at him. He looked at our group and just glowered, then he looked back at Luna and smiled. “It…is time.” He said in a low and creepy tone, then he flashed an aged smile that creeped me out even more. Wasting no time, I ran for him with my sword ready but two guards put up their lances to protect him. “You’re gonna have to do better than that.” I jumped up into the air and then brought my sword down on one of the guards as hard as I could, the strike shattered his spear and cut right through him, causing him to dissipate. The second one tried to stab me with his spear, but I managed to side step his attacks, then when he was open I stabbed him in the leg, throwing him off balance and allowing me to come in with the final strike. Now all that was left was this guy, I looked at him with angry eyes but his glare was one filled with mirth. “You…cannot…beat me.” He said simply. “Want a bet?” I asked. With one quick motion I thrust my sword forward and jabbed him straight in the chest, killing him. But the disturbing thing is that his expression did not change, and his body did not dissipate as soon as he was defeated. “Free…at last.” He said quietly. “What?” I said aloud, dumb founded. Suddenly, a black energy surrounded his body and then flew out of him and his body hunched over, dead. This black energy flew all around the room and then homed in on one pony in particular: Luna. “Luna, look out!” I cried But it was too late, this time it was too fast for me and the ball hit her, she didn’t seem hurt by it but more shocked; after she was hit her legs buckled and she knelt down a bit, as if under the weight of some great force. I walked over to her with concerned thoughts. “Luna, are you okay?” She looked at me with a pained expression. “G-get it out.” “What?” “Get it out! Please! I feel something crawling within me. I…can’t hold it back, I’m…I’m sorry.” Suddenly she was enveloped in that same black aura, her eyes were shut tight and a single tear came out of them. “What’s happening to her?” Twilight asked “I don’t know, I don’t recognize this power I-“ The aura began to change her, it started at her legs and started moving up. As it did her coat color changed to a midnight black and some kind of armor began to form on her body. Suddenly, it all became clear to me. ‘Oh no.” “What is it?” Applejack asked. “I know what’s happening to her.” I smacked myself over the head. “Damn it, I should have seen this coming.” “What do you mean?” Twilight asks. “It’s so obvious now: the dark color of everything I fought, the blue color of their eyes, the challenges we faced coming into this forest. It all points to only pony.” Luna eye’s opened as she transformed, her irises narrowed and became vertical like a cat’s. “The only one evil enough to do this.” Her transformation was complete, the aura around her exploded and she revealed her new form, in all its dark and armored horribleness. “Nightmare moon” Everypony else in the room gasped, and when Nightmare looked at her new body she laughed a long and evil laugh.